In spite of our best attempts to hide it, the truth is that we all carry our share of heavy burdens. No one of us consistently lives without worries or fears. We all shoulder cares and concerns that weary our souls and weigh us down.

Take a moment to reflect upon your present situation. What heavy burdens do you presently carry? What things weigh heavy on your heart?

If you are like most people, your list probably includes items such as: work, marriage, finances, health, children, security, old age, anxieties, fears, temptations, responsibilities, addictions, unfulfilled desires, unrealized dreams, chronic illness, and loneliness.

Some burdens are good, some are bad. Some are chosen; others are unchosen. Some are anxieties that will never be realized; some are fears that we will eventually face. All of them – good, bad, chosen, unchosen, imagined, or realistic – weigh heavy upon us.

What will we do with these burdens? We cannot act as if they do not exist. We cannot pretend that they do not trouble us. No amount of positive posturing will make them go away. What, then, will we do?

A further dilemma exists for those who profess faith in God and express this faith through regular participation in a faith community: What shall we do with our burdens when we meet together? How do we share them? Should we share them? Are our burdens welcome at church gatherings? Does the way we worship suggest that only happy, positive, and cheerful people who have it all together need attend? Must we always leave our burdens behind in worship? Is there a place for them in the community of God? Can sharing our burdens actually be an exercise in worship – a positive response to God’s invitation to draw near and know his grace?

Jesus clearly invites us to approach him with our burdens: “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). How can we accept his invitation? What exactly is Jesus offering? In order to understand the meaning and significance of Jesus’ invitation, we must hear it in its context in Matthew’s Gospel.

Jesus’ Sinking Approval Rating

In Matthew 11, Jesus’ faithful forerunner, John the Baptist, has been imprisoned. While in prison, he has come to have doubts about Jesus. Jesus does not seem to be the kind of Messiah that he had preached about. John proclaimed the coming of One who was “mighty” and would “baptize with fire” (Matthew 3:11). He warned those who failed to repent that the Messiah would come with flaming judgment – winnowing out the worthless chaff from the wheat and “burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). Clearly, John expected a warrior Messiah who would crush sinners. Instead, the Messiah he had baptized – Jesus – was associating with sinners, performing acts of mercy upon the unclean, and stirring up trouble with many prominent and devout religious leaders. Jesus addressed John’s doubts by declaring that his works of mercy were authentic works of God that demonstrated messianic authority (Matthew 11:4-6).

To add to the confusion, people were complaining that Jesus did not fit their preconceptions of Messiah. Jesus would not “play their game” and like spoiled kids they complained about both John and Jesus – John because of his strictness and Jesus because of his looseness (Matthew 11:16-19). They were impossible to please!

The situation was turning sour. Doubted by John the Baptist, unrecognized by many in the multitudes, the subject of ridicule and complaints; clearly, Jesus’ approval rating was sinking. This sad state of affairs led to Jesus’ prophetic condemnation of the cities that he had visited (Matthew 11:20-24). Jesus contrasted Israelite cities with notoriously wicked Gentile cities that had experienced God’s judgment in the past – Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. His listeners must have been shocked to hear Jesus proclaim that sinful Gentile cities were more righteous than Israelite cities. He argued that, if they had had the chance, the pagans would have been more responsive to Jesus than God’s own people presently were: “if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day” (Matthew 11:23). For this reason, those privileged by Jesus’ visit would experience the greater judgment: “Nevertheless, I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you” (Matthew 11:24). Jesus revealed that the immorality of the Gentiles was not as evil as the present denial of the miracles of compassion that he had wrought in Israel. With greater revelation came greater responsibility!

Jesus’ Praise of God’s Plan

At this point, the text takes a strange turn. Jesus proceeds from condemnation to praise and thanksgiving: “I praise you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to babes” (Mt. 11:25).

Jesus had just experienced others’ doubts, misunderstandings, and complaints. He had just expressed frustration bordering on anger. And now his mood changes to thankful joy. What is the source of this? Richard Donovan suggests that “Jesus’ optimism is based, not on any recent success, but rather on God’s gracious authority and the intimacy between Father and Son.”[1] Even more fundamentally, Jesus rejoiced that, in spite of others’ rejection, God’s plan was being accomplished!

In his prayer, Jesus clearly admits how “the wise and the intelligent” are unable to see the significance of his mighty and merciful deeds.[2] He acknowledges that many people simply “didn’t get it.” In a striking reversal of events, the ones we would assume would “get it” – the wise and the intelligent – do not; the ones we would expect to be too dense, slow, or unable to “get it” – infants – do! What prevented the wise and intelligent from seeing God’s work in Jesus? David E. Garland answers,

Wisdom and learning are not to be despised; the problem arises when one considers oneself to be wise and learned (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-30). The wise and understanding regard themselves as the theological elite. They have their own wisdom and are convinced that they have nothing to learn from one so meek and lowly as Jesus. Their years of learning serve only to blind and deafen them to the presence of God’s saving activity in Jesus.[3]

Though God’s work is hidden from the proud, it is easily discovered by “babes”.[4] The point is not that God wants to hide truth from some and reveal it to others, but that all are not equally receptive to God’s revelation. The self-sufficient and proud do not have “space available” to receive God’s truth. Receptivity to God is found in those who are dependent, eager to learn, and open to truth. Know-it-alls have no room for anything new.

The truth is not too hard, too profound or difficult. The truth is so unbelievably simple that only a child can receive it. This means that no one is truly excluded! Garland puts it beautifully: “If revelation is accessible to ‘babes’ then it is accessible to all – which is something for which to be thankful. It is even accessible to the wise and understanding if they would only humble themselves and become as little children (18:3), if not ‘babes.’”[5]

It is no accident that “the wise and intelligent” reject Jesus while “infants” believe in him. God’s plan to bless the poor in spirit, the weak, the childlike, and those hungry for righteousness is the very heart of the gospel. The wisdom of God, though accessible to infants, far exceeds the greatest human wisdom and intelligence. Therefore, the knowledge of God is a gift of grace; it exceeds all human capacity.[6]

This knowledge is available to all who are humble, open, and willing to receive it. But the self-sufficient and proud, no matter how great their intellectual achievements, simply cannot attain this knowledge until they are ready to humble themselves and receive it as a child – as a gift of grace, something they cannot possess by their own efforts alone. It is this receptivity that pleases God and fulfills his plan! “Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in your sight” (Matthew 11:26).

Jesus’ Authoritative Pronouncement

Jesus follows his praise with a pronouncement about his unique role in God’s purposes. He speaks of possessing two kinds of authority: ruling authority and revealing authority.

In universal language that foreshadows the climax of Matthew (“Behold, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” – Mt. 28:18) he pronounces his ruling authority: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father” (Matthew 11:27a).[7]

With relational language of intimacy, he declares his unique relationship with God the Father: “no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27b). The claim is astounding: Jesus has exclusive knowledge of God, and the Son’s true identity is known only by the Father. With language reminiscent of John’s high Christology sayings, Jesus claims to know God uniquely and perfectly, and to be the perfect mediator of God to all humanity. “Jesus’ words testify to an exclusive awareness of God that can only be explained on the basis of his unique transcendent relationship to God.”[8]

Jesus is God’s chosen Messiah who fully reveals God to all people.[9] He is the mediator between God and humanity. He fully accomplishes God’s redemptive purposes and fully reveals God’s character to us. He is in a unique position to do this because of his unique relationship to the Father. Jesus’ words and deeds perfectly reveal the Father’s will and character.

Jesus’ Invitation

As the unique revealer of God’s will and character, Jesus offers a most tender and amazing invitation: “Come to me, all how are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The Greek word translated “weary” (kopiao) means to labor to the point of exhaustion, implying heavy struggling, toil, troubles, and difficulties. It does not merely apply to the physical; it can refer to emotional fatigue and discouragement. It can even touch the extreme experiences of resignation and despair – those who have “given up” or “lost heart.” The weight of this weariness is experienced as a great burden.

Are you tired, weak, troubled? Have you all but given up, resigned yourself to leading a life of quiet desperation? Are you overloaded with the cares and concerns of life? Have you spent yourself to the point of exhaustion? Has the frenetic pace – the push and pull to climb, achieve, and obtain – worn you out? Do you long for something more than an endless rat-race – a never-ending treadmill of selfish pursuits, empty rewards, ulcers, headaches, and disappointments? Are you tired of carrying your burden alone?

Jesus promises rest. What kind of rest is it and how can we share it? In the remainder of our passage, he describes how this rest is obtained and what it is like.

Jesus’ Yoke

The rest Jesus offers comes when we take up his offer to share his burden – “my yoke.” What is a yoke? A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals together in order that they may share a common load. The purpose of a yoke is to ease the discomfort in bearing a heavy load. It does not completely eliminate a burden. It simply makes it easier to manage.

In Hebrew culture, a yoke had both negative and positive connotations. Negatively, “The yoke, used on draft animals and on prisoners of war, was a common metaphor for toil, submission, discipline, duty, and obedience.”[10] Positively, the Bible speaks of the yoke of serving God (Jer. 2:20; 5:5). The rabbis spoke of the “yoke of the law” with its many regulations. Not surprisingly, Jesus used the metaphor in a unique fashion.

Nowhere does anyone refer to the yoke of Moses nor does any teacher have the temerity to invite others to put their necks under “my yoke” and to “learn from me.” Jesus, however, does and invites persons to enroll in his school of Wisdom where he is both the teacher and the core curriculum. If one does not recognize the union between the Father and the son, this offer borders on blasphemy.[11]

Jesus’ yoke was “not to be found in the precision of law keeping, but in a relationship with one who is filled with compassion and devoted to humble service on behalf of his people.”[12] In contrast to offering his followers to take upon themselves the yoke of the law, Jesus invited them to take “his yoke” and accept his personal presence in sharing a common burden.

The endless rules and (mostly negative) regulations could be a burdensome load to carry. Peter admits this in Acts 15:10. Those who took upon themselves the yoke of the law were devoting themselves to intense study full of fine points, nuances, and endless debate. One fully committed to bearing the yoke of the law “needed to be a scholar, trained in languages and literature, with leisure to ponder and discuss weighty and complicated matters.”[13] Even if one mastered the arguments, the yoke of the law failed in one significant way: since the law is not personal but propositional, it can not personally empower an individual to obey it. The words affirm, accuse, or condemn, but they offer no aid in fulfilling the law.

In contrast to the yoke of the law, Jesus’ yoke is accompanied by the personal presence of Jesus. Taking his yoke involves walking with him, learning from him, being empowered by him, growing with him. He invites us to be his apprentices. He invites us to learn not simply through instruction but by experience; not merely by listening, but by watching and participating.

The beautiful truth is that Jesus wears the yoke with us. He does not impose it upon us, but shares it with us.

The yoke is not one that Jesus imposes but one he wears! We remember that commonly a yoke was a wooden instrument that yoked two oxen together and made of them a team. In this word Jesus may be saying: “Become my yoke mate, and learn how to pull the load by working beside me and watching how I do it. The heavy labor will seem light when you allow me to help you with it.”[14]

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29a). The one with whom we share the yoke is meek and lowly. Jesus is not boasting of a special level of spiritual achievement. “He is encouraging us to believe that he isn’t going to stand over us like a policeman, isn’t going to cross with us like an angry schoolteacher. And the welcome he offers, for all who abandon themselves to his mercy, is the welcome God offers through him.”[15]

The Easy Yoke

When we share Jesus’ yoke, we share his rest.[16] Why does Jesus’ yoke give rest rather than introducing us into more back-breaking, wearisome, burdensome labor? Because Jesus’ “yoke is easy” and his “burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). What does this mean?

When we hear the word easy we too often equate it with terms such as user-friendly, stress-free, laid-back, convenient, comfortable, casual, care-free, pain-free, instant, and fun. However, this is not Jesus’ meaning. The Greek word translated as easy (chrestos) can is better translated as good, kind, pleasant, or suitable.[17]

The best way to understand the term is in relation to an actual yoke. “A well-made yoke distributes the load evenly, making the task easier.  A well-fitted yoke follows the contours of the oxen’s neck so that it does not rub or chaff.”[18] As a carpenter, Jesus would know what makes a good yoke:

One of the primary jobs that Jesus would have done for others was to craft yoke for their oxen. Jesus would design and craft personally tailored yokes that would be a “perfect fit” for the shoulders of a particular oxen. The yoke wore easily, like a fine fitting pair of shoes or a fine fitting dress or suit. Because Jesus’ yoke was well fitting, it was both easy and light. To pull a plow with ill-fitting yoke created unnecessary burdens for the oxen. And the Pharisees created unnecessary burdens for other people to carry.[19]

A good yoke – an easy yoke – should “fit” its user. It should make a burden easier, not harder, to carry. Our “burden is light,” not because we are yoke-less, but because we have a pleasant, suitable yoke that fits us well, personally crafted by the master carpenter.

Yoked with Jesus

Jesus, the perfect mediator between God and man, the sole possessor of God’s authority who fully reveals God’s character, invites us to learn his humility and gentleness[20] by sharing his yoke, by partnering with him.

Yoked with Jesus we share our lives together. Jesus walks alongside us, empowering us, encouraging us, guiding us. He doesn’t push or pull, control or manipulate. Instead, he shares in our burdens, participates in our lives, and influences us for good. In Jesus we discover the most astounding truth: “When we learn of Jesus, we find the very Lord of the universe to be humble, preferring to dwell with the humble, the ‘little ones.’”[21] We experience the tender love and care of the one who refuses to “break off a battered reed” or “extinguish a smoldering wick” (see Matthew 12:18-21). Possessing all authority, he refuses to exercise it apart from gentleness and humility. We can rest in such a powerful, yet gracious, embrace.

Walking with Jesus, we experience the transformation that comes from his personal presence. We begin to become like him; we slowly take on his qualities of meekness and humility. Consequently, we come to know and experience true liberty (Gal. 5:1, 13). Even more, we begin to use our liberty to help others carry their load. Indeed, this is one of the greatest ways we demonstrate christlikeness to others: by helping to lighten the load other people carry. “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1).

Walking with Jesus, our load becomes lighter. This occurs primarily because of Jesus’ empowering presence. It also occurs as we abandon some of our burdens that do not correspond to Jesus’ yoke. It is, after all, his yoke – not our own – that we are called to carry. This does not undermine our own concerns and burdens; it simply forces us to reconsider them in light of Jesus’ great kingdom mission. When we do, many of our burdens will take on a fuller redemptive meaning. Others will simply drop away as unnecessary baggage.

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© Richard J. Vincent, 2006